Keeping up with the Joneses by finding a better-paid job - The effect of relative income on job mobility

It has been shown that a person’s relative income – compared to a reference group – has a negative impact on self-reported happiness. This suggests that people who aim at increasing their happiness should try to find a better-paid job if their relative income is low. In this paper we study this hypothesis by estimating the effect of relative income on job mobility, using a dataset containing information on roughly four million Dutch employees. We consider three different reference groups: people who live in the same neighborhood, people who work for the same employer, and people who share certain demographic characteristics. Our findings suggest that workers compare their own income to that of their neighbors, and low relative income is associated with higher job mobility. We conclude that low relative income (compared to the neighbors) reduces workers’ happiness, and workers react to this by finding a new job which may offer the prospect of higher pay.

Keeping up with the Joneses by finding a better-paid job - The effect of relative income on job mobility

It has been shown that a person’s relative income – compared to a reference group – has a negative impact on self-reported happiness. This suggests that people who aim at increasing their happiness should try to find a better-paid job if their relative income is low. In this paper we study this hypothesis by estimating the effect of relative income on job mobility, using a dataset containing information on roughly four million Dutch employees. We consider three different reference groups: people who live in the same neighborhood, people who work for the same employer, and people who share certain demographic characteristics. Our findings suggest that workers compare their own income to that of their neighbors, and low relative income is associated with higher job mobility. We conclude that low relative income (compared to the neighbors) reduces workers’ happiness, and workers react to this by finding a new job which may offer the prospect of higher pay.Relative income, job mobility, happiness, social status

Dematerialisation of consumption: a win-win strategy?

A dematerialisation of the economy can provide a crucial contribution toward sustainable devel-opment. It can take place in the production sphere through technological change or in the con-sumption sphere through altered consumer behaviour. This paper focuses on the second case, a shift of expenditure from material consumption (e.g. manufactured products) to non-material consumption (e.g. services). Since all production requires material, an input-output model is used to account for indirect material use. The model features post-Keynesian macroeconomic founda-tions, which make it possible to study the effects of altered consumption patterns on total con-sumption, output, and income distribution. The empirical application for the case of Germany shows that a dematerialisation of consumption might be considered a win-win strategy from an ecological and economic viewpoint. However, its effects on the distribution of income and inter-national trade may be problematic.Sustainable consumption, input-output model, social sustainability, income distribution

Regional input-output modelling in Germany: The case of North Rhine-Westphalia

The political system of Germany is characterized by strong federalist elements, which means that many important decisions of economic policy are made by the governments of the federal states or Länder. Unfortunately the statistical offices of the Länder do not produce regional input-output tables, claiming that they lack the resources (i.e. manpower) to do so. The lack of official input-output tables for the Länder forms a significant obstacle to the study of regional economic developments and hampers the ability of economists to provide well-informed advice to regional policy-makers. A similar situation prevails in many other European countries. This paper attempts to meliorate the situation by describing the process of constructing a regional input-output table (RIOT) for North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the largest federal state in terms of GDP and population. A first approximation is produced by applying the CHARM method to the national input-output table on the basis of regional and national employment data. This first approximation is then improved upon by adding additional information from various sources, including the statistical office of NRW and the household survey of income and expenditure. We conclude that it is possible to construct a meaningful RIOT even when resources (time and money) are severely limited if the available information is used in an efficient manner.regional input-output table; nonsurvey method; hybrid method; location quotient; impact analysis

Energy conservation, unemployment and the direction of technical change

This paper extends the model by Smulders and de Nooij (Resour Energy Econ 25:59–79, 2003), where technical change can be biased towards labour or energy, by assuming a monopolistic union and a government which pays unemployment benefits, collects wage taxes and sells emission permits. The extended model is applied to the analysis of environmental tax reforms. A reduction in the level of energy use yields a double dividend by lowering pollution and unemployment, while temporarily inducing energy-saving technical change. It moves the economy to a new balanced growth path where unemployment is permanently lower, but long-run growth is not aff ected. A reduction in the growth rate of energy use induces a persistent bias in technical change towards labour and reduces long-run growth.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Curse Of Natural Resources In The Transition Economies

The curse of natural resources is a well-documented phenomenon in developing countries. Economies that are richly endowed with natural resources tend to grow slowly. Among the transition economies of the former “Eastern Bloc”, a similar pattern can be observed. This paper shows that a large part of the variation in growth rates among the transition economies can be attributed to the curse of natural resources. After controlling for numerous other factors, there is still a strong negative correlation between natural resource abundance and economic growth. Among the transition economies the prime reason for the curse of natural resource is corruption. Other reasons for the curse of natural resources may be Dutch disease effect and a neglect of education.environmental economics ;

The Curse of Natural Resources in the Transition Econonmies of the Former East

The curse of natural resources is a well-documented phenomenon in developing countries. Economies that are richly endowed with natural resources tend to grow slowly. Among the transition economies of the former “Eastern Bloc”, a similar pattern can be observed. This paper shows that a large part of the variation in growth rates among the transition economies can be attributed to the curse of natural resources. After controlling for numerous other factors, there is still a strong negative correlation between natural resource abundance and economic growth. Among the transition economies the prime reason for the curse of natural resource is corruption. Other reasons for the curse of natural resources may be Dutch disease effect and a neglect of education.natural resources, transition economies, growth, corruption, dutch disease, education

How to Sow and Reap as You Go: a Simple Model of Cyclical Endogenous Growth

In this paper, we present a simple endogenous growth model that allows for the occurrence of innovations that can develop into General Purpose Technologies (GPTs), which are the result of basic R&D. The model incorporates the main features of the Romer (1990) model and the Aghion and Howitt (1992) model by using multi-level Ethier functions on the one hand, and Poisson processes to describe the arrival of innovations produced by performing basic R&D and applied R&D. Through basic R&D the core of a potentially new GPT enters the economic system. This core offers the possibility for further expansion of the potential GPT through applied R&D by adding peripherals to this core. The characteristics of the new potential GPT that is represented by the core are randomly distributed. These characteristics include intrinsic profitability, scope for expansion, as well as R&D opportunities and efficiency of the corresponding applied R&D process. By using some illustrative simulations with the model, we show that the arrival of a successful GPT does indeed bring about a reallocation of R&D activities towards applied R&D, thus postponing the moment of arrival of the next GPT. Meanwhile, applied R&D raises the productivity of the GPT as a whole. But the profitability of finding the next/marginal peripheral falls in the process. This fall in marginal profits diminishes the incentives to engage in further applied R&D and increases the incentives to move into basic R&D activities again. Thus, we obtain a cyclical pattern in output growth that is not only partly driven by the arrival of the new potential GPTs but also by the continuing development of existing GPTs in the absence of the arrival of new ones. In periods that do not give rise to the arrival of new successful GPTs we find instances of alternating expansions of existing GPTs that have the character of a GPT-race.economic development an growth ;

Keeping up with the Joneses by finding a better-paid job - The effect of relative income on job mobility

It has been shown that a person’s relative income – compared to a reference group – has a negative impact on self-reported happiness. This suggests that people who aim at increasing their happiness should try to find a better-paid job if their relative income is low. In this paper we study this hypothesis by estimating the effect of relative income on job mobility, using a dataset containing information on roughly four million Dutch employees. We consider three different reference groups: people who live in the same neighborhood, people who work for the same employer, and people who share certain demographic characteristics. Our findings suggest that workers compare their own income to that of their neighbors, and low relative income is associated with higher job mobility. We conclude that low relative income (compared to the neighbors) reduces workers’ happiness, and workers react to this by finding a new job which may offer the prospect of higher pay

Keeping up with the Joneses by finding a better-paid job - The effect of relative income on job mobility

It has been shown that a person’s relative income – compared to a reference group – has a negative impact on self-reported happiness. This suggests that people who aim at increasing their happiness should try to find a better-paid job if their relative income is low. In this paper we study this hypothesis by estimating the effect of relative income on job mobility, using a dataset containing information on roughly four million Dutch employees. We consider three different reference groups: people who live in the same neighborhood, people who work for the same employer, and people who share certain demographic characteristics. Our findings suggest that workers compare their own income to that of their neighbors, and low relative income is associated with higher job mobility. We conclude that low relative income (compared to the neighbors) reduces workers’ happiness, and workers react to this by finding a new job which may offer the prospect of higher pay